This article offers a general overview of civilian crisis management in the EU, its mechanisms and instruments, the nature of civil-military cooperation (coordination), and an overview of civilian crisis management missions. Particular attention will be paid to the EULEX Mission in Kosovo as a case-study of how participating civilian experts judge both the mission itself and the mission preparations (i.e. selection and training of personnel, mission strategy, mission related activities, the problems identified etc.). The article will argue that seemingly trivial operational details, such as personnel selection, the quality of pre-deployment training and advance preparation are important factors which, if not properly coordinated, could jeopardise EU goals in the field of crisis management. The author also presumes that unregulated civil-military cooperation and coordination can lead to the failure of crisis management operations.
Personnel Selection and Training
